New Leaf
by gothicorca1895
Summary: When a probe droid left behind by Buy n Large is discovered, the resulting drama is proof to all sentinent robots that love and hatred can exist side by side. WallEVE, Love-hate Auto/OC. Rated T for safety. Chapter 5 up!
1. Abandonment

_A/N: I can see I've got some explaining to do about this story. This might take a while, so get comfortable. We're not even at the actual story part yet!_

_I started this fanficton about two months ago, to explain the origin of one of my OCs, LAI. As we all know, fanfictions that are completely about OCs = calling those OCs Mary-Sue (not saying YOU would do that, but some people would), which was one of the arguments when I asked people on the Wall-E Fanbase and deviantART if they'd like to see it here. However, a good and constructive critic who shall remain anonymous said that this story was a standout, and with a few adjustments, it would make it without all those troublesome "Sue" hassles. _

_I know exactly what parts of this story need to be fixed, but some parts don't. Those parts are the prologue and first two chapters. So I'm going to post them here to gauge reactions. If people don't like a story almost entirely about an OC, then I'll take it down. If they agree with the "anonymous" critic, then I'll leave it up. If it does get left up, it will be a while before the revised chapters get posted, as I'm currently busy with other projects and such._

_Constructive criticism is always welcome, as long as it's, you know, actually CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. _

**_Disclaimer: Do I really have to say that "I don't own Wall-E"? I do? Okay, then. I don't own Wall-E. There, I said it._**

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_Earth 2105_

Mrs. Amity placed a hand on her LAI bot's shoulder. "You have been such a help to us, LAI," she murmured. "And we will repay you for that."

LAI dipped her silver head once in a nod. Her eyes were completely white, blank and unfeeling, as they always were.

"Are you ready, Lionel?" Mrs. Amity whispered to her husband.

"Yes," replied Mr. Amity. He pounded the side of a thick metal safe. "She'll be protected in here."

"She'd better be," said Mrs. Amity. "If Buy n Large finds out we've kept her..."

"Buy n Large won't find out. They'll be in space too."

"It's just that I feel so bad leaving her here..."

Mr. Amity sighed. "Look, Loretta," he said firmly. "Don't worry about LAI. She's a machine. She can't feel. As long as she's turned off and put in a safe place, she won't even know we're gone." He patted her shoulder. "Besides, it's only for five years."

"You're right," murmured Mrs. Amity. She looked up sadly at LAI's unchanging expression. "We'll be back soon, my dear. I promise."

LAI didn't react.

Mr. Amity opened the door of the safe as his wife reached around the silver robot's back, aiming for her power switch. A second later, LAI deactivated, falling to the ground with a heavy thud. He picked her up and gently placed her in her holding area. Despite his little speech earlier, he felt a little sad abandoning her. Even if she was a just an unfeeling machine, she had been a part of their family for so long...

But they wouldn't be needing her on the Axiom, so he locked her away, wrapped his arm around his wife's waist, and led her to the ship where they, unknowingly, would spend the rest of their lives.


	2. Hide and Seek

_A/N: Wow, I was surprised to get a couple of "I wish you'd expanded the prologue" reviews. In my opinion, the prologue for this story needed to be short, sweet, and to the point, "just tell the history briefly and get on with the story" kind of thing. _

_I've recently been doing replanning of this story, basically summarizing every chapter. I'm happy to announce that the entire plot is now wholly constructed, and revisions of chapters 3 through 5 should be happening soon, as well as the actual additon of new chapters._

_Keep up with the R&R, and constructive criticism is still welcome!_

**_Disclaimer: Guess what? I STILL don't own WALL-E. Huh, who knew?_**

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_Earth 2812_

"Wen-dee! Way-tuh!"

Wall-E urged himself faster, ignoring his gears' screams of protest. WENDI was already too far ahead for comfort, and he couldn't let her get lost out here, in the Buy n Large ruins. The place was so vast that it could take days to find her again.

"Wen-dee! Wen-dee!" He screeched to a halt, searching frantically for his daughter, but she had vanished from site.

"Wwweeennn-dd - "

Wall-E was cut off by a tap on his boxy shoulder and a mischevious little-girl giggle. He turned around and, sure enough, there was WENDI, her eyes taking the form of laughing green crescents.

"I pay hide-seek, Daddy!" she announced.

"Wen-dee!" cried Wall-E, relieved. Then he tried to sound reprimanding as he told her, "Wen-dee...yoouuu...staaay!"

WENDI nodded apologetically. "I stay Daddy," she confirmed, wrapping her arms around her father's ancient neck joint. "I sow-ee. I pay hide-seek wif sil-vuh."

"It...okaaay, Wen-dee," Wall-E assured her. Then he paused, the last part of her comment sinking in. Had she said she was playing with someone? Was it an imaginary friend, or some robot wandering around out here? The last time she'd run off, she'd accidentally reactivated CODI. The last thing Wall-E wanted was for a fiasco like that to happen again...

"Sil-vuh, Wen-dee?" he asked her nervously.

WENDI nodded enthusiastically. "I pay wif sil-vuh! You see sil-vuh, Daddy?"

Wall-E nodded, even more nervous now that WENDI wanted him to meet her mysterious playmate.

His daughter took him by the hand and led him into the bare metal skeleton of a skyscraper. Jagged beams of sunlight slanted through the tall steel struts, creating an eerie effect. WENDI, undaunted, dodged unidentifiable pieces of wreckage, and moved to a hulking metal object in a corner. Its outside was crusted with rust, but it also appeared to have been recently opened as its inside still gleamed silver.

And lying inside this object - a safe, Wall-E now realized - was WENDI's "sil-vuh": a shiny, pale gray, deactivated probe droid.

"Woah," Wall-E murmured, turning the robot over and wiping dust off its visor. He glanced over at his anticipating daughter and asked, "This...sil-vuh...Wen-dee?"

"Uh-huh!" chirped the little gold bot. "Sil-vuh. Sil-vuh seepy. Sil-vuh take a nap, Daddy."

Wall-E just barely nodded, since most of his attention was focused on the silver probe. Who was this? What did it do? Maybe it had been abandoned, as he was, when the humands left on the Axiom. If so, why hadn't this bot been reclaimed? The landing was seven years ago, after all.

He didn't know the answers to these questions, leaving him with the option he;d become dependent on: ask EVE.

Unfortunately, EVE wasn't here. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure where she was. When Wall-E and WENDI went on their father-daughter outings and she had the day to herself, sometimes she would stay outside the truck and work in her garden; other times she'd go to the Axiom, hook up to a translator, and tell their story to any museum visitors who wanted to hear it. EVE's decisions on what she would do were usually fairly random, so Wall-E really did not know where she was right now. And that was a bad thing.

He couldn't just leave the deactivated probe here, or with WENDI; she'd run off and get into trouble if she wasn't being watched. That also ruled out the option of WENDI going to find EVE and Wall-E staying with this bot. Clearly they couldn't stay here forever, but if they left now, they might not be able to find their way back.

Then Wall-E remembered something.

He reached inside himself and pulled out a scrap of brightly colored red ribbon. Its vibrant hues had appealed to him; now he reached up as high as he could and tied it around a girder, where it fluttered like a bold flag in the slight breeze. Satisfied with his work, he turned to his daughter.

"Wen-dee!" he exclaimed. "Gooo...fiiind...Mama?"

She clapped her hands together. "Ye-es! Find Mama!" And with that, she zipped ahead, as Wall-E chased her home.


	3. Directive Useless

_A/N: Here's the last chapter before revisions begin. Believe it or not, there's actually a reason why LAI obtains emotions fairly quickly, but to keep you reading, it won't be revealed until the end of the story. However, I'll keep in mind that her actual personality should take time to develop._

**_Disclaimer: If I owned WALL-E, you would already know. Since you don't, just assume that it still belongs to Disney and Pixar and stuff._**

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Grinding. Subtle to an outsider's ears, but she could hear her own body's mechanisms practically crashing against each other, eager to show that they still worked after years of disuse.

With a hiss, she felt her head release, repelled by the magnetics of her shoulders, but attracted enough to hover a few inches above them. Her arms followed suit, the flexible casing bending convex and concave a few times, the fingers seperating and stretching. Sight was last, but her optic systems didn't dissapoint. Her eyes finally blinked onto her visor, and she could tell that they were as blank and white as they always had been.

In front of her was another probe droid, but this probe was not a Land and Air Inspector. She was white, sleeker, shaped like an egg, with two blue eyes.

"Name?" asked the white robot.

She blinked. "LAI. I am...LAI."

"LAI," the other probe responded, nodding. Then she lifted a finger and pointed to herself. "EVE."

"Wall-E," said another voice. LAI looked down and saw one of those trash-compacting robots - a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class. But this unit seemed ancient, worn and rusty, yet strangely lively. He extended a hydraulic arm-shovel up to her. She stared at it robotically. After a few seconds, the Wall-E awkwardly lowered it.

"Directive?" asked the other probe-droid, EVE.

The word activated a flow of old programming, and LAI, unable to stop herself, recited carefully:

"Greetings. I am a Land and Air Inspector, or LAI probe. I was originally unit fourteen of the Buy n Large fleet, but I was customized to serve Lionel and Loretta Amity. The default function of all LAI probe units is to measure atmospheric and terrain toxincy levels, in order to determine which areas still possess the abiloty to sustain life. Though ninety-seven perscent of LAIs faithfully serve Buy n Large, I, as a customized unit, am a specific and private attendent to the Amitys."

The trash compactor, Wall-E, sighed sympathetically. EVE's eyes upturned in a sad smile. LAI realized that they felt sorry for her. Why?

"Where are the Amitys?" she asked.

EVE's expression remained the same. "Gone," she said simply.

"Gone?" LAI repeated. For the first time ever, her blank eyes narrowed. "No. Not possible." She checked her date settings. Checked again. Now those white eys were widening. "Not possible...not...possible..."

She had been deactivated for over seven hundred and seven years.

_Seven hundred and seven years._

Her silver head whipped around, taking it all in now: the wreckage, the rusted safe, the pollutant-free sunset, the weeds crawling up over the ground...

"Gone?" LAI whispered again. "No...so much time...no..."

And something odd happened: her eyes changed their color from white to indigo.

EVE placed a comforting hand on LAI's shoulder, and Wall-E whistled apologetically.

"Directive - useless," said EVE, then murmured, "Sorry, LAI."

LAI didn't respond. She couldn't. Those words rebounded through her head: "Gone...directive - useless..." How could she have a directive and be useless? What exactly had happened in those seven hundred and seven years? What exactly was happening now? As her mind buzzed with questions, her eyes lightened a shade, going from indigo to purple.

As the sunlight faded, Wall-E and EVE began to move out. LAI followed them numbly. So much time had passed. So much appeared to have changed. And though she still had her directive, her directive was..._useless._


	4. The Captain and the Wheel

_A/N: And so the revisions have begun! Not that there were any major ones to be made in this chapter -- but it's progress nonetheless._

_As the story continues, you'll notice LAI's speech transforming from its default formal settings, as illustrated in this chapter, to a more normal/casual dialect as she spends more time around humans and recalls how the Amitys used to talk. Every chapter she'll get a bit more informal, and by about the middle of the story, you won't be able to distinguish her speech from a human's._

_Thanks for all the great reviews. I would have lost hope in this story without them._

**_Disclaimer: If you're not sick of hearing that I don't own WALL-E yet, I'll say it once more: I don't own WALL-E._**

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The city LAI had once known was little more than rubble now. She sighed as she hovered past; her eyes turned to a deep blue, but when she realized it, they switched back to purple. Why did her eyes keep changing colors? What was the sensation of feeling? Could it possibly be emotions? But robots couldn't have emotions - could they?

Wall-E and EVE led her beyond the ruins, through what appeared to be an occupied human settlement, and towards a huge grounded starliner. As they drew closer, LAI realized that the ship must have been there for a few years at least; ivy and other winding plants were beginning to creep up its lower levels, and its landing pad was rusted. But floodlights still illuminated the ship's name: AXIOM.

LAI's spirits lifted slightly. The Amitys had left her to voyage on the Axiom. Was it possible they were still here?

Her hope vanished when she remembered that humans were mortal. There was no way that the Amitys could still be alive. Her "family" - it was a strange word to use, but that was how they had treated her - really was gone.

She followed Wall-E and EVE through a spacious main deck, dotted with displays that looked like exhibits. Was the Axiom a museum or something? LAI kept her questions to herself as they passed through a shiny lobby and rode an elevator up thirty stories - to the bridge.

"Mama! Daddy!"

LAI leapt back, startled, as a little gold robot with huge green eyes zipped right up to the probe and the trash compactor. They both laughed and embraced the gold childlike bot, only adding to LAI's confusion.

"She's quite a handful," remarked another voice, and her attention was diverted to a plump, dark-haired man - a human. He was dressed in a red-and-white jumpsuit and a white nautical-style cap, and had an official's jacket tied around his neck.

"I don't know how you guys put up with that heap of trouble," the man continued. EVE rolled her blue eyes good-naturedly.

"Captain," she greeted the human, and a slight tremor reverberated through LAI: this man was, or had been, the captain of the Axiom.

She shivered again when the Captain began to study her apprehensively. "And who have we here?" he asked.

"Lie-uh," pronounced Wall-E.

"LAI," EVE corrected.

"I am able to communicate of my own accord," LAI cut in, surprising herself. Apparently, she'd surprised the others, too; their eyes widened as they looked over at her.

"What I intended to say was, I possess speech abilities," she continued awkwardly. "It is unnecessary to have others introduce me." Her eyes flashed to peach, provoking a frown from the Captain.

"Did your eyes just change color?" he demanded.

"Did they?" said LAI, eyes rapidly pulsing back to purple again.

The Captain's frown grew deeper. "They just did it again."

LAI held out her hands in surrender as Captain turned away and began to rummage through some nearby drawers. The childlike gold bot hovered over to her, eyes plastered with a genuine enthusiastic expression.

"I Wen-dee!" the little one announced. "Hi, Sil-vuh!"

"I am LAI," LAI responded.

"Lie-uh?" mimicked WENDI.

"LAI."

"Aha!" exclaimed the Captain. "Found it." In his pudgy hands, he clasped a sticklike projection device with something that looked like a suction cup at one end. He proceeded to attatch this end to LAI's head, and the silver probe gasped as her own memories were cast on a floating holoscreen in front of her.

"Mr. Amity..." she murmured, reaching out towards the projection. "Mrs. Amity..."

The scene played out, predictable and unchangeable; the Amitys spoke to an unresponsive LAI, prepared a safe, and deactivated her. Wall-E, EVE, the Captain, and even WENDI gave LAI sympathetic glances throughout the footage. They felt sorry for her. She felt sorry for herself, as well.

"So you were abandoned," Captain sighed when it ended. "I'm so sorry, LAI."

LAI kept her now-deep-blue eyes on the floor.

"Directive - useless," EVE commented.

"I guess so, huh?" replied Captain. "Then I guess we'll just have to give her a new one."

"A new directive?" LAI repeated.

And about that time was when the wheel showed up.

He seemed to come out of nowhere. Black and white, a single red eye burning in the center, gears grinding and twisting inaudibly, circuits buzzing and bleeping with a muted noise - the very picture of advanced, high-end technology.

"Ah, Auto!" exclaimed the Captain. "I'm glad you're here. This is LAI. She's a land and air inspection probe that was abandoned on Earth in 2105."

The wheel turned to LAI but said nothing. Her eyes turned pale gray at the intensity of "his" gaze. Could "he" even talk?

"LAI, this is Auto, the autopi - "

"Ex-autopilot," said the wheel, and LAI actually shuddered. His voice was deep, toneless, _soulless_, and something about its articulation was imperfect - or perhaps _too_ perfect.

"Right, the ex-autopilot. He's currently the security guard of the Axiom museum. Auto, LAI needs a directive. I was thinking she could be a supervisor."

Clearly, LAI wasn't the only one surprised by this. Wall-E and EVE shared a look; Auto gave his spokes an anxious twist.

"Sir, do you think it is wise to assign her such a task before her performance has been adequately surveyed?" the wheel asked.

The Captain waved his hand dismissively. "You don't need any special qualifications to be a supervisor."

"What is a supervisor?" asked LAI, wondering if she'd regret it.

"Oh, all you'd have to do is check on the robots who work here on the Axiom, make sure that they were doing their jobs correctly..."

Her eyes began to turn orange. "You are requesting that I…'baby-sit' them?"

"Well, not exactl - "

"I am not designed to 'baby-sit' any form of life, artificial or otherwise! I am not a NAN-E unit!" Her eyes were as red as Auto's cycloptic orb now.

"It's not babysitting," Captain assured her. "It's SUPERVISING. Of course, if you don't want to..." He shrugged.

"If you refused, you would be a purposeless machine, only fit for being sent to the scrap heap," said Auto.

LAI glared. That wheel was quickly getting obnoxious.

"Auto," snapped EVE, clearly tipped off by his comment. She shot him a warning look, though LAI could not imagine what the warning was for.

"Then I suppose, as I have no choice in that matter, I will begin tomorrow," grumbled the silver probe.


	5. Glorified BabySitting

_ A/N: Woo! Just one more chapter to revise before I start the new ones! Personally, I can't wait to get away from LAI's freakin' formality._

_If you follow me on deviantART (username is the same as my penname here) then you might be aware of Corkscrew and Twisted. Corkscrew is a comic that, although I've never actually SAID this next bit, takes place almost immediately after New Leaf. It is humanized. Twisted is the not-yet-existant sequel to Corkscrew, and YES, AUTO AND LAI ARE GOING TO HAVE A KID IN THE FUTURE._

_Note: that was not actually a spoiler for this story, except for revealing that Auto and LAI will eventually not hate each other, which is something you already should have guessed._

_Nothing like that happens in this story._

_**Disclaimer: I don't own WALL-E this chapter, nor am I planning to own it next chapter.**_

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"Come to attention, LAI probe."

LAI groaned as she was pulled out of sleep mode and began to hover above the corner of the bridge where she'd shut down last night. The only thing clear in her sleep-blurry optics was the red eye of Auto.

"What is the purpose of this wake-up call, you inconsiderate machine?" she grumbled, half-annoyed and half-groggy.

Suddenly, a bolt of pain shot through her head.

"OW!" she shrieked, reaching up and clutching at the injury. She glared, furious, at Auto, who stared at her coldly in reply - he had cracked down on her with a hard, flat object held in his pincer spoke.

"And what was your intention with THAT?!" LAI shouted.

"The Axiom has already opened its doors," Auto stated. "It is necessary for you to complete your directive, LAI probe. You have already neglected the tasks you have been assigned." He unceremoniously dropped the hard, flat object before her. Glowering, LAI snatched it up. It was a computerized clipboard. A headset was clamped around it.

"What relevance does this object possess?" she snapped.

No response.

LAI looked up. Auto was gone.

"Inconsiderate waste of metal…" she hissed under her breath.

A few minutes later, LAI hovered above the Lido Deck, her eyes a deep red as she scowled down at the humans. She'd managed to hook up the headset, and was now tapping at the clipboard with a stylus. She couldn't figure out what to do, which served to annoy her further.

Finally, a voice came from the device:

"Greetings, supervisor. Welcome to your Task Manager. Your first duty today is to meet with the Life Explorer Earth-Class. Direct her to the Captain's quarters so that she can identify new species of ongoing animal life."

The LCD screen displayed a computer graphic of a pink-and-gold female bot with a single wheel, enormous eyes, and two pigtail-like sound sensors. Needless to say, LAI had never met a Life Explorer Earth-Class, and didn't know where to look for one.

But for once, something went right. LAI didn't have to find the Life Explorer; the Life Explorer found her.

As LAI glared resentfully at her clipboard, she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she swiveled, there stood the Life Explorer Earth-Class, exactly like her graphic but for one change - she had a dusty safari hat atop her head.

"I've never seen you here before," said the Life Explorer in a kiddish voice. "So who are you?"

LAI blinked. Her eyes turned a rather nice shade of pale blue. "Eh…I am known as LAI, and I am an Axiom supervisor…I suppose."

The other bot laughed. "That unsure of yourself, huh? I'm guessing you're new here."

"You are correct in that assumption," grumbled LAI. "Not one resident has bothered to lend me any assistance – particularly not that wheel, Auto."

"Yeah, well, Auto's not exactly known for his social interaction skills, but don't hate him just yet." She extended her hand out to LAI. "I'm LEX-E, and if you want some help, I'll try my best to deliver it."

LAI stared at the hand, recognizing the gesture as the same one that Wall-E had tried the previous night.

"You're supposed to shake," said LEX-E.

"Shake what?"

"Shake HANDS! Jeez, you're not just new on the Axiom, are you?"

"Negative."

LEX-E shook her head, bewildered. "Wo-o-ow."

LAI's eyes were turning peach by now. She held up her clipboard to hide her discomfort. "According to my equipment, you are designated to visit with the Capt --"

"Hold up," said LEX-E, suddenly serious. "Is it just me, or are your optics blurring up?"

"In a manner of speaking," admitted LAI. "But I assumed that -- "

"SMOKE!" cried LEX-E, shoving past LAI.

The silver probe turned in shock. Sure enough, smoke was billowing up from the other side of the deck.

Something was burning.


End file.
